High mortality rates, mainly due to low-quality seed, are driving up prices for Malaysian shrimp, according to Benjamin Saw, the director of Malaysian shrimp-farming firm Arus Nagamas.
“Shrimp prices in Malaysia are now at the highest they have ever been,” Saw told SeafoodSource. “There is a big shortage of tiger prawns in Malaysia now driving prices up.”
Saw told SeafoodSource that farmgate prices are averaging MYR 32 (USD 7.00, EUR 6.40) per kilogram for 40 pieces and up to MYR 40 (USD 8.80, EUR 8.00) per kilogram for larger prawns, such as in 15-piece packages.
“Some local harvesters are paying MYR 38 (USD 8.30, EUR 7.60) per kilogram for live harvesting to distribute to local restaurants,” Saw said.
He attributed the increased prices to high mortality levels brought on by low-quality seedlings, most of which are imported from Thailand.
“Currently, we are [being] hit with poor seed quality that seems to be highly susceptible to previously non-fatal diseases – particularly HPV [Hepatopancreatic parvovirus] coupled with co-infections with EHP [Enterocytozoon hepatopenaei] and IHHNV [infectious hypodermal and hematopoietic necrosis], which didn't [used to] affect tiger prawns that much,” he said. “Now, our survival rates are only between 50 percent and 60 percent.”
The reliance on seed from abroad is forcing Saw and other firms to consider vertical integration in order to control quality.
“We hope that the quality of seed can improve as this is our bigger problem right now. We are trying to expand into a hatchery and also downstream distribution as well,” he said.
This rise in farmgate prices comes as selling to the Chinese market has become more difficult for firms like Saw’s.
“Recently, there has been a big drop in prawn imports into China because Chinese criteria for tiger prawns is very strict, particularly regarding color and quality. The market has also offered low pricing,” he said.
The trends Saw said he is currently seeing in China represent a continuation of those that played out throughout 2024.
Imports in the first three quarters of 2024 were affected by low prices paid by Chinese consumers for seafood. Data from the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs showed the average price paid for seafood was CNY 25.08 (USD 3.51, EUR 3.26) per pound in the period – down 3.7 percent on the same period in 2023.
